How To Choose A Clamp?

Harness is an individual attribute of a horse, so you cannot use the same clamp on different horses, because they differ in build and neck shape. A short collar will make it difficult for the horse to breathe, a narrow one will delay blood circulation, and a wide or long one will go behind the spines of the shoulder blades or knock down the withers, interfere with the freedom of the front legs.

Clamps are available in 12 sizes - from # 0 to # 11. To find out which clamp will fit your horse, measure the length and width of the horse's neck. Length - in a centimeter along the base of the neck from its crest, at the junction of the neck to the withers, to the shoulder-blade joint (in the lower part of the scapula). To the resulting figure, add 6 cm for the wagon clamp, and 3 cm for the arable or passenger clamp. The neck width is measured in the widest part - at its base. There is a special "horned" Wilkens compass for this. With the help of three thin slats, you can build such a measuring device in the shape of the letter "P" with one movable "leg" and graph paper on the "crossbar".

Clamps are chosen according to the numbers corresponding to the ratio of the neck length to its width: No. 0 - 440/210, No. 1 - 460/230, No. 2 - 485/240, No. 3 - 510/250, No. 4 - 535/260, No. 5 - 555/270, No. 6 - 585/280, No. 7 - 610/310, No. 8 - 640/340, No. 9 - 670/360, No. 10 - 710/380, No. 11 - 740/400. In the process of operation, the clamps acquire the features of the individual structure of the neck of each horse.

Source: Tatiana Livanova, zootechnician magazine "Animal husbandry", 1998